Thursday, May 27

Jonathan admits he got in trouble at school, "all for things no one ever got in trouble for. There were no rules against them but they just didn't expect people to do 'em.

"For example, I would draw on my pants. I had nothin' to do so I'd just draw little things on my pants." Jonathan traces two circles on his shorts to demonstrate. "Then I'd be summoned to the principal's office and he'd say, 'What are these?' I'd say, 'That's a treble dial and that's a bass dial.' Little infractions like that."

Probably no aspect of Jonathan's current music delights, frustrates, amuses and offends people as much as it's childishness. The Modern Lovers always dealt with the commonplace, often in simple terms. But by the time the group disbanded the records had become deliberately childlike. The final Modern Lovers album, Back in Your Life, celebrates the joys of running and jumping, eating food, God's love for mosquitos, and elves and animals partying in the woods. to be continued

Wednesday, May 26

"They like it. I invite them to see my shows. My father bought me my my first guitar, my first electric guitar, my second electric guitar, and my first two amplifiers. He encouraged it. I told him, 'Hey, Dad, I'm playing this big old place'-- I was about 16 years old-- 'and these people might come to see me-- maybe even from record companies-- and I need a better guitar. He gave me $110 for an Epiphone solid body guitar. If I had it today it'd be worth about $500." to be continued

Tuesday, May 25

I : You grew up in the same neighbourhood as Jonathan Richman.. What kind of neighbourhood was that ?
John Felice : Strictly middle class, tract housing ... as suburban an environment as you can imagine. 15 miles west of Boston. Shopping malls and all that kind of shit. When we were young all that stuff was just starting to happen.
I : And I guess you got into music at an early age. Jonathan was what, a couple of years older than you ?
JF : He was like 5 years older than me. He was a big influence on me. Only after of course my interest was peeked in'64 or so by the Stones and Beatles and all that. Shortly after, like 2 or 3 years later... like Jonathan was a bit older than me so I held him somewhat in high regard because of his knowledge. He was a little bit more wordly. He was able to get out and see things that a 12 and 13 I was unable to see, y'know. The Velvet Underground and stuff like that, he turned me on to those kinds of bands in the late 60's .
I : He was like hangin' around the Velvets, wasn't he ?
JF : Yeah, he got to go down to New York and hang out with Andy Warhol and that crowd. He was like.. in Boston there was a New York-Boston connection between the Andy Warhol scene and people up here in the Harvard and Cambridge area. Of course New York always being hipper than Boston.. So anyway Jonathan was in that deal and he would play solo shows on Cambridge Commons every Sunday afternoon. They would have concerts on the Commons... He used to practise by himself in his bedroom. Everyone in the neighbourhood could hear him from blocks away playing in the summer with his windows open, driving the neighbours crazy. I'd had a guitar for a couple of years, we talked about putting a band together, but he never wanted to, he enjoyed doing solo stuff. He went to Europe after he graduated high school. As soon as he came back he contacted me about playing in a band. And that was how the Modern Lovers started. Him and me. We put posters up around town for auditions, got the band together and that was that. It happened as like a steady progression. It was almost like natural... Music was changing. The music that I was into and Jonathan , the anti-hippy type music. I liked the Velvet Underground. I wasn't into like Quicksilver Fucking Messenger Service and all that hippy-dippy shit. I hated that shit. I liked the Stooges and the Velvet Underground and the MC5, that was what I listened to in high school. That was all I listened to.
I : So how quick did you start playing ?
JF : Well you had to make your own gigs. There were no night clubs to play. We put on our own shows at Harvard, we would rent halls, we would sometimes get to play the beach resorts. We played anywhere we could. Down in New York, we played a really great gig - it was one of the things that got recorded, some of it appeared on the "Songs of rememberance" boot-cd - at the Mercer Arts Centre on New Year's Eve with the New York Dolls. That was a pretty momentous gig. That was the very first gig that Jerry Nolan played with the Dolls. Billy had died that Autumn. At that show, me and Johnny Thunders became friends, because we were both same age and he was the baby of that band and I was the baby of the Modern Lovers. Ernie and Jerry and David and Jonathan were all like 5 or 6 years older than me. I was like 16, 17. So me and John became close friends and stayed friends for years afterwards.. I quit the Modern Lovers after that Mercer show because the band was destined to break, I knew it.
I : Was this before they went out to California ?
JF : They'd gone out to California once but I couldn't cuz I was in school. It was for those Kim Fowley tapes. It was just a session to do a quick thing they were back in a couple of weeks. It generated a bunch of record company interest, but because of our lack of decision making we were unable to act upon... We had all the major labels hunting us down as like the next big thing, offering us big, huge contracts, but the longer we waited and dicked around , the smaller the offers became. So we ended up signing a contract for something like $50,000 down from $500,000. A fucking pittance man compared to what... And all the bickering and the fighting was really putting a fucking strain on the band. I had graduated high school the summer before '72. We played Mercer Arts Centre on New Year's Eve '72/'73, and a week later we played up here in Boston at this place called the Stone Phoenix Coffee House. It was our signing party, David Geffen was there, he was just an A&R guy from Warners, and it was my last show with the band. They were leaving in like two days to go out and make the album... We talked about me staying in the band and going but I knew the band was going to break up because we were fighting so much, we hated each other. We hated each other. and I was right. They were out there for fucking a month and the band broke up.
I : - I'd thought you'd quit some time earlier. I've read something about a band you had called the Children's Rockn'n Roll Band.
JF : Yeah I left for a few months while they were persuing record contracts. I had to stay in school.. The Children's Rockn'n Roll Band, Jonathan named it... It was just kind of a goof. See I'd never played in a high school band... The Modern Lovers was my first band, playing Jonathan's crazy "When you get out of the hospital" nonsense and "Astral plane" and shit ... So I quit, because I had to go to school and these guys were like taking gigs on the West Coast. So I said I need to take some time off, I'm going to put together a little band. I said it wasn't permanent, y'know, we'll be back together and you guys make a record y'know, I'm there. And everybody liked the idea of two guitars in the Modern Lovers. It didn't sound as good when Jonathan was by himself. Ernie, Jerry and David really liked the idea of having another guitar because it gave the band so much more power. So I put this little band together, and y'know, we played high schooldances and we did really well.
I : Was this, "Louie Louie" kind of stuff?
JF : No that's when I first started writing songs, during this band. That was 1971.
I : And this was with Paul Murphy - later to become drummer in DMZ, and in the Lyres.
JF : Yeah, he wanted to originally be the singer, but I said I'll do the singing so I loaned hime the money.. I bought him a little Rogers drum set. And Paul was really diligent about practising, he was really cool about that. He practised all the time till his hands were bleeding, he was incredible. And we had Rick Coracio, who was the bass player in DMZ and then in the Lyres, as Murph was also. That's how that started, and of coursewe stayed in touch through the years. I mean it's a small musical community. Those are embryonic stages of a lot of things...
I : So after that, and after you left the Modern Lovers, was it the Kids next?
JF : Yeah. I was starting to feel a little more confident in my own material. You know it's toughwhen you are a kid. I respected Jonathan's material, but it wasn't what I wanted.
I : Yeah, I wondered how you felt about his songs and his direction. There's a Modern Lovers live thing with you on , I guess you've heard it , and there's one song which he introduces as a song you hate - "Wake up sleepyhead" on Longbranch Saloon- and then he gives you the mic and you give your little speil about it. What did you think about him putting himself up, like in "Someone I care about", as this guy with really pure intentions.
JF : See that's when things were starting to rip us all apart. Me and Jonathan, as close as we were, you know, I was like a punk, I was a wise-ass kid. I liked to do drugs, a lot of drugs, I liked to drink, and Jonathan was like this wide-eyed, no-drugs, ate nothing but health food, fucking carrot juice kind of guy...
I : So he was true to his word ?
JF : Oh fuck yeah. He was the fucking honest-to-goodness article. He was everything that he pretended to be. He was never false in his presentation of what he did. And.. it wasn't me, y'know ?
I : Is it true that you were Hippy Johnny (in "I'm straight') ?
JF : Yeah. It was originally Hippy Ernie. That was before Ernie was in the band. After I left it became Hippy Johnny, and the song became more timely, because , y'know, of my drugs... It was just the way I was. It made more sense because Ernie wasn't into doing drugs. - whatever Felice says , Ernie Brooks was not Hippy Ernie according to Jonathan.. but Hippy Johnny might really have been John Felice who answered to Jonathan in the classic Real Kids song "Who needs you".
I : So you were pretty much into all that at that early age ?
JF : Yeah. I was like 17.. I was a hellion, I just didn't fit in. I had a 100 watt Marshall, I had a Les Paul. Jonathan was trying to turn down all the time, and now he's succeeded in turning down into a complete accoustic. Him and me, our paths were growing further apart all the time.. We continued our friendship for years and years, during and after the Beserkley thing, he was back living again in Boston after that for several years. and we're still friends I guess, even thoughwe don't stay in touch with each other.. I guess we're friends. So..
I : So the Kids ..
JF : The Kids.. I was starting to feel my oats as a songwriter and have more to say... My songs didn't sound like Jonathan's songs thank God. I wrote some songs in the Modern Lovers that Ernie and Jerry really enjoyed. I mean, that was another point of contention in the Modern Lovers. Ernie, Jerry and David wanted to play some of my material because it was fun to play. It was loud and raucous and it was fun, you know what I'm saying ? And Jonathan couldn't go for it, because you know, he's got a tremendous ego and ...
I : Did any of those songs later surface ?
JF : No. These were early.

Monday, May 24

"My father's a salesman," Jonathan Richman explains. "That's where 'Roadrunner' came from. He's a traveling salesman. He sells to military installations all over New England. That's how I got that love for 7-Up signs and Norwood and Foxboro and all these different places. I would sit in the car with him and we would drive all over this area, up and down New England. It was like a whole other world to me."

Jonathan is sitting in a Cambridge natural food restaurant at 11 in the morning. He is wearing a T-shirt and shorts. His muscular, unshaven appearance is surprisingly different from the publicity-pic Richman.

One cliche writers have used to describe Jonathan Richman is that he resembles Beaver Cleaver. But with his scruffy beard, crooked smile and the way he looks down and then straight at me as he talks, Jonathan Richman reminds me of pre-Born to Run Bruce Springsteen. to be continued

Sunday, May 23

It's funny that someone has precisely mentioned this week Elliott Murphy's Night Lights album, with its stronger than usual Modern Lovers connection. It's funny, because I've just been listening this week to the BMG reissue of Elliott Murphy's Lost Generation/ Night lights albums on one CD, and I intended to tell you about it.

Yes, the Modern Lovers connection at the time of the 1976 Night Lights is strong, because that year the Elliott Murphy band at one point consisted in none other than Ernie Brooks, of course, plus Jerry Harrison and Andy Paley on drums!!! This line-up didn't last long, it toured and recorded 3 of the songs on the original album.

The BMG reissue has one extra track for Lost Generation, and no less than ten for Night Lights. The silly thing is that there is absolutely no information whatsoever as to where these tracks come from. But they are obviously studio outtakes and demos. And what I had been meaning to tell you is that one of these extra tracks, "Night Connection," obviously features, it seems to me, the Brooks/Harrison/Paley line-up(that organ sound...), and moreover, the theme of the song is a not too distant cousin to that of "Roadrunner." So much so that "Night Connection" was rerecorded for the next album, 77's Just a Story from America, under the title "Drive All Night!"

And if you'd like to hear more of this Elliott Murphy band line-up, then you can look for volume two of Elliott Murphy's rarity series: it features a full concert by this version of the band in 1976, including "Night Connection." I found this info on the net while looking for info on Night Lights. The most complete info was on a Spanish site though: Dusty Roses Records.

When Jonathan and the Modern Lovers #2 did their European tour in 1978 they played in Paris and met there one die hard fan, a guy called Michel Esteban who had some kind of a shop where records as well as clothes could be found. The earliest version of this shop was named "Roadrunners" for obvious reasons, it eventually evolved into "Harry Cover" ( a pun in French). Esteban soon started a punk fanzine called Rock News with the help of his girlfriend , the delicious Lizzie Mercier-Descloux who was his muse/photographer/editor. I think it was Lizzie who shot the picture of Jonathan in Paris with the striped shirt which is on the back of the booklet of the "Beserkley years : best of Jonathan Richman" CD. She became a close friend of Patti Smith's and was part of the New-York punk scene. She started a successful singing career in the 80's in the world music department established by the hit "Mais ou sont passees les gazelles ?"
Lizzie died a couple of weeks ago from cancer, and my sadness is mixed with nostalgia as it is some images of my youth which is vanishing, I was often visiting the Harry Cover shop in 78-79 to buy special records meeting people who were liking the same music as me ...
De l'ame pour l'ame
Jacques

Saturday, May 22

1. Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love2. Sunday Afternoon3. Vincent Van Gogh4. Cosi Veloce5. He Gave Us The WIne To Taste It6. Salvador Dali7. My Baby Love Love Loves Me8. In Che Mondo Viviamo9. Behold The Lilies Of The Field10. Les Etoiles11. World Is Showing It's Hand, The12. Abu Jamal13. On A Du Soleil

I got the mail from the radio producer:
There will be a broadcast soon (probably in June) of the Gothenburg show!!!

Below is also my original mail in February to the radio show telling how good we (=list members all around the world) think that the Tonkraft show (Swede weed) was...and still is! and it would be a great idea if they recorded the new show. If you don't understand, it's because it's in Swedish

Depending on the interest maybe this show could be a cdr tree? Usually the "p3 live" show is 60 min (no commercials).

Two great shows in Sweden (both sold out, in Stockholm at least) so hopefully it will not take 8 years until next time.

It lasted 100 min with an extended-extended version of Lesbian Bar as one of the highlights. The reviewer in the biggest Swedish paper (DN) stated that it must have been 20 min! Tommy and Jojo did solo after solo with alot of dancing and laughing. Another highlight was This Kind of Music and the guitarplaying in general.

Some of the new songs are really great like for instance "He Gave Us the Wine to Taste, not to talk about it...So let's taste it!" and Imprevidibele (growing better each time and listening to some UK shows so the new cd in June seems to be really good!

The audience in Stockholm were quieter than the Gothenburg audience. It was totally dead silent during the slow songs and some of the guitar solos. But imho I think that the audience and the show in Gothenburg were the better one of the two.

The show ended with Not So Much to be Loved... and Nishi and intense cheering for encores. Specially since the lights were still only on the stage. Jojo had to come and explain that they don't do any encores. He then jumped down from the stage into the audience causing a minor riot among the Swedish girls. Some loud Drum'n'bass music was turned on and Jojo made his way to the bar and made the dj turn it off! He then talked to the people even to me and I got my ticket autographed.

He said that he'll return to Europe in September (Barcelona, Germany and some other country that I don't remember, but not Sweden).

Excellent info on the Gothenburg show, Magnus. Sorry I missed you, I was one of the "older people" at the front. So- the crowd was on the youngish side, which was nice.

I noticed that audience was a bit uneasy about Jonathan´s spoken introduction to that song about going to a brothel. That subject is very much taboo in Sweden, whatever you in the rest of the world imagines about Swedish pornography and Swedish nannies callaed Inga and such. But then he sang "You Can´t Talk to the Dude" and everyone was smiling again.

I agree it was an excellent show (although it was my first so I'm perhaps not the one to tell)!

But he seemed so happy, smiled alot, danced alot, and he was a bit surprised with the great audience response. It surprised me that it was rather alot of people below 25 years old, but I saw people older than me also.

He opened with Egyptian Reggae, That Summer Feeling (it was a warm summer evening), 19 in Naples and Springtime in NY.

Excluding You Can't Talk to the Dude he re-played the last part of a couple of songs like "Her High Heels..." due to the audience cheering. It surprised me also that the songs from his latest cds were so known to the audience. He started to play I'm a Little Airplane but didn't get so much response so he changed into Affection after a while. Alot of the new songs were also played. Excellent Let Her Go into Darkness (with French/Italian/Hebrew/Arabic middle parts).

The last songs if I remember correctly was Vampire Girl (excellent version), You Can't Talk to the Dude w intro, Give Paris One More Chance. Tommy left the stage and Jonathan did some old French song (Trenet/Chevalier?). The audience demanded more and he came back for an a capella Nishi. After minutes and minutes of shouting from the audience he came back just waving and thanking the audience.

Aftonbladet (one of the biggest) papers rated the show 4 of 5. Stating that the only negative was that 90 minutes felt too short. They concluded that he's playing in Stockholm (tonight) and just stating: BE THERE!

...That's where I'm going right now!!

And I think SR (Swedish Radio) P3 recorded the show for a later weeding in this group (their truck was outside and I saw extra microphones)! I'm going to check with them. I sent them a long email in March recommending Jonathan for their broadcast series: P3 Live and that their broadcast from 1978 (Swede weed) was still discussed in this group.

Friday, May 21

For the first time in 8 years Jonathan entered Swedish soil. And he was warmly greeted by a full house at Trägår´n in Gothenburg on Friday. The reviewer in the Gothenburg Post wrote that he had never heard more applause after any concert he had attended. Jonathan did about 90 minutes of non-stop songs from Pablo Picasso to some not-yet recorded songs. Favourites were Lesbian Bar, Vincent van Gogh and extended versions of Let Her Go into the Darkness and You Can´t Talk to the Dude.

I made a lot of fuss to everyone I know about Jonathan coming to Gothenburg, at last. And a gang of people from my work went to the concert-- and loved it.

But one of the people that did not go made a cell phone call to the office on the morning of the Gothenburg show, reporting that he was on a train from south Sweden to Gothenburg, sharing a compartment with Jonathan and Tommy.

Obviously Jonathan and Tommy had boarded the train in Hellsingborg (which means that they must have taken the ferry from Oslo in Norway, where the last concert before Gothenburg was held, to Helsingör (the city of Prince Hamlet) in Denmark, then the short ferry tour over to Helsingborg, and then boarded the train there to Gothenburg. That is NOT the shortest way from Oslo to Gothenburg, to put it mildly, but maybe they did some West Scandinavian sightseeing while they were there.

My friend on the train reported that Jonathan came on board, carrying his guitar, and sat down writing lyrics. Some fans came over and talked to him and he was very friendly. My friend, who´s into metal rather than Jonathan, thought of starting some conversation with Jonathan, but couldn´t think of anything more clever to say than "Hi, there´s a guy at my work who really likes you a lot," so he thought it best to keep silent. But he did sit two seats from Jonathan Richman for more than two hours!

Wednesday, May 19

Those darn Geminis, huh? Talented as hell, and so confused, and well ... Thanks for that pic RB because I stood right there many a time when it was ... Bleeker and Bowery? Or "Bleeker and Blury?" I lost my really old CBGBs shirt. I can get a new on from the canteen, but did I leave it at any of you guyz' apts? Just retracing my steps ... probably left it next to someone's pool at night. Oh hell. I needed a new one anyhow. Sometimes things happen for a reason :)

I'm WAY NOSTALGIC about the Ramones (seen them more than, yes ... Jonathan!) ... and was just talking about them today. The Office Manager where I work has a 14 year old stepdaughter who LOVES them the way I did then and still do, so I'm going through all my "Sire Records" goodies, because she is SO the girl to give it to! And the Office Manager, one amazing woman who I'm lucky to know -- she has to listen to "U2" all the way to school and back with her kidz, and she's a trooper. Anyone else have any Ramones stuff that either I sent ya or you acquired that you want to rock a 14 year old gal's soul with? Her step mom will pay, but, because I know amazing she is, I can't give this kewl Jonnie Mitchel looking 29 year old enuf! I'll trade B-52s stuff, like a swap, because her stepdaughter doesn't dig em :)

OK ... bye!
Malary123@aol.com
(When my mom and dad named me "Season" I thought, I might
want to be the girl from Family Ties instead. They don't mind. Hope yu don't.:)

and ... "Wouldn't it be nice!" if that was all the news fit to print :) BUT, turns out I that I had a dream that Gordon, who handled/created/managed ... lot of work stuff! of the Jonathan Richman list from way back when and guess what?? He didn't really run away, he knew when to say it's ok to pass this on to Jim Morrison's incarnation or whoever List God may be, and he got a job that I hope he really likes and vs. vs. at Google.com! That's cool! In this economy? It's hopeful. it's inspiring, it's rare!

SO ... more power to Gordoni who left his list in good hands, to LISTGOD, who is doing a fine job. But how cool it is to hear that Gordon's reason for saying "Take this job I've, had enuf" is because he got a cool job that he digs!

May it stay that way, and maybe someday may he even be so well versed at Google (I LOVE Google!) that he has time to lurk from here and there.

Sunday, May 16

Go to the above page and you will see your new "dashboard" (why Blogger recently changed this setup is beyond me because it is sooo confusing). Bookmark this or add to favorites for convenience.

Scroll about half way down the page until you see your name on the right at the top of a "column" with the link that says Edit Profile. Click on that and you can change just about everything in your profile!

Friday, May 14

Don't forget that this Sunday is Jonathan's Birthday. Is he playing anywhere tomorrow or Sunday where someone can say "Hey -- Malary says Happy Birthday?" Regardless, let's all make a toast to the dude come Sunday!

There was talk on the old Jojo List of compiling a CD of JR covers by list members. It seems this may still happen, but meanwhile - as a sampler - here's an MP3 of Roller Coaster by the Sea which I recorded for it with a couple of friends. If anyone else wants to contribute a song contact a Jojoblog admin or leave a comment here.

Tuesday, May 11

So Jonathan was in Europe. Be still my beating heart. Looking at the touring schedule I got really excited. England, France, Spain and yes! The Netherlands. Last year I had to fly all the way to Rome because he didn't play my country. This tour he would come to Amsterdam and Groningen.

In March, two more months before I'd be able to see him perform. I couldn't wait that long and Paris is not that far away. The train tickets are real cheap if you buy them well in advance. Besides, the concert would be a week after my birthday, so it could be a nice birthday present. I checked with my family, and of course a few eyebrows were raised (he's coming to Holland, what you need to go to Paris for?), but they were fine with the idea. Jonathan and Paris, a match made in heaven.

I asked a girlfriend along. She had never seen Jonathan in concert; in fact, she didn't know his music at all. I would have to trust on her good taste in music. Driving to Paris on the fifteenth we played several of his cds, and thank God, she liked it! No 12 year friendship would have to end tragically. The hotel was very nice and Paris was enchanting. The day of the concert we strolled through a park, drank rosé on a terrace and made lots of pictures. I wanted to go to the venue Café de la Danse early, afraid we might not be able to find it right away. On our way there we met a very nice old French couple and they asked us to sit down and have a drink with them. We didn't want to be rude so we joined them. And lost track of time (those charming french people!). Just barely on time we arrived at the Café de la Danse. The opening act just started. I didn't care much for the would-be artistic singer with accordion. Maybe she was funny, my French is not good enough to judge. The audience seemed to like her.

Jonathan was great. He played a lot of new songs and seemed really happy to play Paris. My friend brought her professional camera and made some wonderful pictures during the concert. I didn't have to worry about her being bored or not liking the concert so I was dancing and felt mesmerized. At the end of the concert we met two American girls who live in Paris and we all went for a drink.

Back in Holland. Amsterdam, de Melkweg, 2nd of May. The vibe in the audience was again great. Jonathan seemed to be having a great time and so were we. After the concert I managed to give Tommy L. a couple of pictures of Jonathan my friend made in Paris. He promised to have Jonathan sign them for me and would return them to me in Groningen.

That night I was so excited that I decided to go and see the show in Düsseldorf the next day. It's only 200 kilometers so why not? It was a very nice venue, very small and intimate but the audience was so different. They were just standing there, not dancing. It was as if they didn't get the music. They stared at Jonathan as if he was some weird creature from outta space. Laughing at him as he danced. Such a disgrace! A lot of people were obviously drunk, or just not interested, talking loud. Jonathan did "Let her go into the darkness", but he didn't do his routine with the different languages. He didn't talk much between songs, which I always like so much. Before playing "Going to the Plaza" he explained that, when in another country, he's shy to speak English because he's afraid we won't understand. Immediately he follows: "Of course I know people here in Germany and in Holland as well speak English very well, often even better than we do, so I'll tell you a little about the next song." He told us about not liking to live out in the country, because there was no sense of community ("Or, if there was, I was never able to find it").

The crowd that didn't show much enthusiasm during the show, went beserk after Jonathan and Tommy had left the stage. This was no different from Paris or Amsterdam, but this time Jonathan rewarded us with an encore. Was he trying to impress the, before so annoyed (and annoying), audience just to make sure they did like him? He came on stage, already wearing his jacket, and said: "You know, the concert has ended, maybe you all didn't get that. I figured I'll do one more. Wouldn't wanna keep you here waiting forever." He sang about saying goodbye to Rome, not using the microphones and finally winning over the entire audience.

May 5th, Groningen, Vera. Vera publishes a small "newspaper" with the announcements of the concerts. I would like to share with you the article on Jonathan. Of course, this is a translation and my English isn't perfect. Please keep that in mind.

Important people in the music world have to die young
to become infamous. The legend must live on. Degrading
to an almost forgotten greatness from the past is fatal.
Somebody who will not be recognized on the street or in
the supermarket. Or worse, slowly fading away from life
in an old-people's-home, is the worst case scenario for
a rockstar. Starting with Elvis's first single, about
50 years ago, it seems to be a logical order: after
drugs, sex and rock 'n roll, you die early. Elvis, Hendrix,
Lennon and Cobain fit nicely into this picture. But the one
person who does not live by these rules of rock 'n roll, but
who's a real founder anyway, is still alive. This living
legend of punk is once again, with great applause, put on
stage of Vera.

Jonathan Richman, why don't you come in..!

After seeing a documentary about punk venue CBGB's, in
which the viewer was told about the birth of American
punkbands, I wrote down: "Modern Lovers, remember them".
A simple note in one of my notebooks, as if it were some
weak little band from the past, that might some day be
mentioned in an interview with someone. In fact, these
Modern Lovers caused a musical earthquake. Even though
you would never know, reading my little note. How would
I know, this whole punk history took place before I was
born. But they had influenced bands like the Ramones and
the Clash. Bands I did know, since the beginning of the
seventies, long before punk erupted in England. And when
Rotten and friends were being a plague to the royal family
and their government, the men of the Modern Lovers were
nicely active in New Wave. Wasn't it so that members of this
great band were later joining bands like the Talking Heads
and the Cars? Frontman Jonathan Richman went his own way,
with some Country and Reggae kind of music I think. Since a
couple years the never fully understood Richman is concentrating
on Folk and Chanson. Still, he always knows how to surprise
the world with his almost story-telling songs about the simplest
things of life. The polls of Vera from the years that this
romantic soul visited Groningen are clear as a crystal. No
matter what style he did his songs in, he always ended as one
of the first. Some people just know exactly what to do and never
disappoint their fans, no matter what they do. He partly wrote
the music of, and played a role in "There's Something About Mary",
without losing his credibility.

The last time Jonathan played Vera, with Meindert Talma and his
Negroes as an opening act, Richman played with Tommy Larkins.
This time Richman takes this drummer along with him again.
This guy is of course no nitwit either. You could know him,
besides from this last time with Richman, from bands like Giant
Sand, Friends of Dean Martinez and Naked Prey, in which he also
played rhythm. Larkins also visited Vera many times before
he joined Richman on the Vera stage three years ago.

Richman doesn't tour to promote a newly released album. But
with about 19 solo records you have enough material to play an
entire evening without ever repeating yourself. And for 7
euro's you can live such a legendary night. Always fun to brag
about at parties, right?

I'll be seeing you at Vera.

You can argue about the quality of this article. I would say it is at least funny. It didn't help much though to attract the kind of people who were aware of the fact they were about to see a living legend. If that were the case, they would have been a lot more respectful! People were loud and obnoxious: piling up bottles of beer in front of Jonathan on stage, yelling really silly things (I mean, being a little silly at Jonathan's concerts is fine, this was weird), banging on Tommy's drums and talking to each other constantly. There were more decibels coming from behind me than from the stage. Jonathan adapted nicely, not playing any slow songs, except for the thirty second version of "Not in My Name." Unfortunately, unlike in Düsseldorf, he did not talk in between songs. That might have really worked to get the attention of the audience I think. He did do his routine during "Let Her Go into the Darkness," and was rewarded with a great applause. Even though I thought it was not such a good performance. It was done too fast and the translated words were not chosen very well. I've seen him do much better.

I talked to Tommy after the concert and he told me (what I already knew) Jonathan doesn't mind playing difficult audiences. In fact, he rather enjoys it. He and Tommy seemed to be having fun. I like it better though to be in an audience who like Jonathan as much as I do. I got my pictures back from Tommy. Signed. Great! I've always been too shy to ask Jonathanfor an autograph.

Jonathan and Tommy are in Sweden now, too far away for me to go and see them again. Maybe this fall they will return to Europe. I will have to be patient. In the meantime let's all hope the new album will be as wonderful as the new songs, performed on stage, promised it to be.

Saturday, May 8

continued
The Lovers' subject matter is, naturally, love-- for the disintegrating city ("I know the modern world is bad, And it's getting worse I suppose every day, But that's where we belong today"), for their peers ("Don't die now, Someday we'll be dignified and old together"), for inaccessible girls. There is anger, too, in both the words and the music, but it is their transcendent agape that may ultimately make the Modern Lovers more than an interesting ripple on the New Wave. Though the band has real flash, Richman's persona is so narrowly eccentric that I found it a llittle boring once the novelty had worn off. At times, his anti-hip posture flirted with a dubious moralism; in a song about trying to win a girl away from her "hippy-skippy" boyfriend he declaimed peevishly, "If these guys are so great, Why can't they take the world and take it straight?" But there were other moments during the Lovers' act when I felt truly exalted, Toward the end of the set, they did a song about driving down the highway with the AM radio on. A familiar theme, of course, yet the treatment was intense enough to communicate that old sense of belonging to an eternal rock-and-roll community-- which is, after all, a drug we've been digging on for twenty years or so. As Jonathan cried "Got the power, got the magic," I remembered the first time I ever saw the Who, the night they sang "You are forgiven!"-- and I was.

Thursday, May 6

Yesterday, Frank posted his very nice report of last Sunday's Amsterdam show.
Thanks Frank! Great review!
And hey, you wrote:
"I met dJAn and he'll probably will do his review as well."
Did you leave anything to review? ;-) Your playlisting system is just so thorough! Well, I'll pick some other details :-)

It was really nice to meet some of you folks. Frank was there, of course, and Inge was, and Sjoerd as well. Even Rosebud was there, on my left hand, all in blue. (Just a little magic ;-) Hey Sjoerd, great pictures you sent to the blog! (I'm there right in front of Jonathan, but it's hard to see, my Faded-Color Out-To-Play Squirt-Gun-Purple T-shirt rather indistinguishable.) Oh, wow, now Frank's pictures are on the blog as well! So nice, thanks! Hey Inge, tell us about being 'very special guest' at Vera ;-) And tell Mikthechippy/ Mikvanhelsing if they really are all 'batty' at Vera. Did anyone hang from the ceiling? Sjoerd, have you listened/ watched the Plaza DVD that you bought yet? I think it's just what one needs, the days after, to prevent nasty withdrawal symptoms. I'm not kiddin'! I'm still in a happy haze, but there's also a certain hurting from the knowledge that it'll be years probably, till the next show :-(

This show was SO NICE! Frank already told us about that. But well, I didn't even need to beg for "Imprevedibile" (I would've, you know ;-) it was right there. And even later on, as a great reprise :-)
Oh, and those other new songs, I lost my heart to all of 'em. Jonathan started playing "Egyptian Reggae" and right after that he did "Lilies in the Field". I don't know if it's new, Jonathan's, or if it's a cover, but it stole my heart! This night couldn't go wrong!

Hey, well, last Friday Mal inquired:
"Is there a certain season of the tides where squirrels have soft bones?"
All the Amsterdam squirrels were wonderful soft bony. Very delicate. And there were lots of nice and juicy sea monkeys as well!
And last Sunday that same rawking girl quizzed:
"Q: What movie is that last quote from?
Prize: Free nitrous oxide from Jan :) "
The Amsterdam squirrels and sea monkeys were just so ripe and mellow, they were oozing, steaming thick clouds of nitrous oxide. Luckily, pills are dealt as candy at Amsterdam concerts, so we all could easily provide ourselves with lots of beautiful vitamin B12. Maybe we'll live to see another Jonathan show. Just maybe.

Oh, yeah, let's not forget the French couple, celebrating their wedding anniversary. I haven't met her, but he was telling about how he liked "Egyptian Reggae" and "Roadrunner", especially "Roadrunner", and how he was hoping Jonathan would play that one. Well, we said, not so much chance to that happening. It seemed like "Roadrunner" and "Egyptian Reggae" were the only ones he knew, and the guy was wondering what the hell Jonathan was doing if not "Roadrunner".
After the show the man came to say goodbye, and to say how much he had enjoyed the show! This was music right from and to the heart, he said. And he was so right, of course :-)

Wednesday, May 5

It was around 21.20 when Jonathan and Tommy came on stage. The venue had filled up nicely but there was more than enough space to stand or dance. Jonathan couldn't find his guitarcase immediately. He was wearing loose jeans and a red, bottomed shirt, also dressed loosely. Tommy's big mustache did catch my eyes!

Jonathan was in a very happy mood and the crowd (lots of forty-ish people) was very warm and enjoying it all the time. That had a very nice effect on Jonathan who seemed he couldn't stop playing. As a result we got a lot of songs. There were sing a longs and rhythmic claps etc...

I was prepared for the set list so this is what I came up with in order that he played. If any songs have another title, please correct it for me.

1. Egyptian Reggae
2. Lilies in the Field
3. "4 am Tokyo Japan" unknown song, nice though.
4. Her mystery not of high heels and eye shadow
5. "My dream of the world when I was 14" or something like that...
6. Springtime in NY
7. Pablo Picasso
8. Give Paris one more chance
9. When I was 14 Salvador Dali was there for me
10. Imprevidibele
11. Instrumental (you know the one)
12. Let her go into the darkness (with extended french/italian/spanish dialogue)
13. "Mystery of summer"..unknown to me
14. You are the light of the world
15. Vincent Van Gogh
16. El joven Se Estremese

Here Tommy got a solo; Jonathan went almost off stage to give mister Larkins all the attention.

17. My mind works too fast (in Italian)
18. The world is showing me its hand

He started to ask for requests, where all there was a lot of shouting. He chose
19. That summer feeling
20. Affection

21. Lonely Financial zone
22. Lesbian bar
23. My baby loves me
24. Not so much to be loved as to love
25. Older girl
26. Vampire girls
27. He gave us the wine to taste.
28. Imprevidible (reprise)

As Tommy stood up to leave, he said well let's do one more.

29. The night is still young

He put his guitar in the case, took his jacket and went off. The audience was still clapping to get him back but we all know... he rarely does. It was the best gig of Jonathan that I have seen in a while. I hadn't much time to say goodbye to Jan, because I had a long drive home.

Sunday, May 2

I am pretty sure I emailed you all the .jpgs that I have scanned of this man -- and a few of Warren Zevon taken from sitting ON the stage (or I should say Sarah scanned for me -- I gave her a bag of Jonathan paraphanalia (sp?) one Thanksgiving, and she comes back at Christmas for our sushi "meetup" with all kinds of cool stuff, and my pics scanned on a CD for me! She lives in the MODERN WORLD, oh yeah!

But ... RB, feel free to post any of the .jpgs I sent ya on your blog if the spirit moves ya. And if you don't have them, I can send them to you again. I can send them to anyone who wants them -- just e-mail me and you'll have .jpgs waiting at the door. This WILL happen because I don't have to go to the post office. If I have to go to the post office, I get so confused I end up just going to a bar. I've had a lot of fun trying to get to the post office, though! :) You meet interesting people at a bar sitting there with a secret package that was supposed to have been mailed. Better than a "conversation tie!" (yes Mr. Milenko, if you've found your way to this blog, I stole that phrase from you. Thanks!:)

DA Jacques ... you're here ... tawk to us! In French if you wanna! :)

Peace Out!
Malary123@aol.com

... and I'm now singing "Pictures of Lily" in my head over and over. It's not easy being Malary! (or ANY of my names! :) OK, my head changed songs to Cheryl Crow ... "no one said it would be easy ..." I like that one better. Phew.

Saturday, May 1

Early in the evening, during the B-group's set, a strange-looking boy with short hair, bug eyes, and a white T-shirt emblazoned-- in pencil--with the words "I Love My Life" danced alone on the periphery of the dance floor, attracting fishy looks and comments like "There's a weirdo in every crowd." The weirdo turned out to be the Modern Lovers' lead singer and guitarist, Jonathan Richman. Unlike the other members of the band, who are hard-edge urban freaks, Richman is an oddball's oddball-- the archetypal Queens high-school creep. (I guess they have them in Boston, too) who sits in the back of the classroom with his shirttail out, making faces and crass comments, picking his nose, hanging out with other creeps, who share his pain and his anarchic innocence. He is a pure pop relic, the kind of ironist whose self-conscious straightness is the highest compliment to perversity. He also has an evocative, if mannered, voice and plays brilliant, daring guitar. to be continued

Disclaimer

Jojoblog is maintained with respect by fans for fans. Jonathan Richman does not use the internet or own a computer. Any communication from him to the Jojoblog community is sent through his publicist, Debbie Gulyas of Blue Arrow Records.